About the Artist - Scout Cuomo

About the Cover ArtistScout Cuomo

This month’s cover artist is Scout Cuomo. Her light-infused work explores the intersection of the human and natural world. As an impressionistic and abstract impressionistic full-time artist, Scout works predominately in the mediums of painting and drawing. She is best known for her Swimmers series, which portrays people floating in and exploring life under water. By embedding pigment in thick coats of epoxy, she infuses her pieces with light to create a glass-like gloss. The end result is a surprisingly delicate, three-dimensional painting. Subjects range from underwater views to landscapes to animals painted on glass using the same process. An artist industriously producing new work, she’s sold more than 300 original paintings nationally and internationally. Scout is dedicated to supporting her local economy by collaborating with other community artists and makers, from blacksmiths to graphic designers.

A native of Texas, she moved to the Northeast ten years ago to seriously pursue her art. She’s a graduate of Smith College, and has also worked as a tattoo apprentice and barista. She had a stint resurfacing wooden boats in the harbor of Provincetown, MA, while living on a sailboat. All of these experiences have helped to influence her work today.

Scout was commissioned by a client to paint this month’s cover piece entitled “Suzanne’s Bliss,” a memory of swimming in Lake Tahoe as a teen and the sense of personal freedom felt in that moment. “Suzanne’s Bliss” is part of Scout’s Submerged series, inspired by her affinity for water and her love of color and light. The water is symbolic of a connection among all living beings, an essential element for life. Having always felt a spiritual connection to the water, the series explores the freedom and refuge of being in the water juxtaposed against the risk and adventure.

Paintings often begin with underwater pictures Scout captures as she scuba dives and snorkels. The way the light interacts with the water provides endless hues and a color language much more dynamic than found in any other setting. Colors come together in profound ways to touch something subconscious, releasing its meaning to the surface.